On Windows, the same is true of the encrypted data; any program that runs as you can decrypt it. Is it different on macOS? How does the system authenticate a specific program?
So it's not the program that is authenticated. The system simply makes sure that any program accessing that particularly sensitive data is really controlled by the logged in user.
This is entirely separate from protections for other files that may or may not be encrypted.
Really? I thought Chrome, same as Firefox, stored credentials in an SQL file, the reason behind it being profiles and its built-in sync service.
Autofill doesn't require password entry, but before revealing any stored passwords you have to re-authenticate using the regular system login method.
I wish Firefox did the same.
You could say once malware is executed with my credentials it's game over anyway. But I disagree with that. Having a file full of passwords stolen is far worse than than anything else, including key loggers, because it's maximum damage in a minimum amount of time.
I want to make that as difficult as possible for any attacker.